Used Tesla Model 3 long-term test: report 3

The used Tesla Model 3 won lots of What Car? accolades when it was new, but what's it like as a secondhand vehicle? We're living with one to find out...

Published31 July 2024

The car 2021 Tesla Model 3 Long Range All-wheel drive | Run by Claire Evans, consumer editor

Why it's here To see if you can enjoy all the pleasures of Model 3 ownership without having to stump up the cost of a new model

Needs to Eat up motorway miles with ease, have enough range for longer excursions and be a comfortable and economical mobile office when needed

Mileage on arrival 19,298 Mileage now 23,445 List price when new (2021) £50,890 Value on arrival £31,000 Test range 265 miles Official range 360 miles

31 July 2024 – An intelligent automotive companion

Although I’m pretty confident about parking in tight spaces, especially in the Tesla Model 3, which has a great turning circle and precise steering, it’s good to have the option to park and unpark the car in really small car park spaces once I’ve exited the vehicle.

This is why I’ve been having fun trying out some of the unusual tech that’s on my car, starting with the Summon feature. It lets me remotely move the car backwards and forwards for up to 12 metres by using the controls on my Tesla smartphone app.

This feature is a prime example of how Tesla thinks out of the box instead of just mimicking things other car makers are doing. The level of ambition of the company is impressive, too. I remember thinking it unbelievable when I read the Summon press info back in 2016, which said: “Eventually, your Tesla will be able to drive anywhere across the country to meet you, charging itself along the way. It will sync with your calendar to know exactly when to arrive.” I do now believe that will be possible at some point in the future.

Tesla’s Autopilot autonomous driving system has been criticised for taking over too much from drivers so they feel like they don’t have to control and oversee the system. But if you use it as a driving aid rather than delegating control to it, it’s a superb safety feature.

Since my car is an older model, it’s not got the very latest Autopilot system, though: it has Enhanced Autopilot but not the Full Self-Driving Capability. However, even without the traffic light and stop sign recognition of the more sophisticated system, it’s still more advanced and intelligent than the systems on many rival brands.

I’ve been doing frequent long motorway drives recently and have used the Autopilot system to take the strain out of driving, and help me when I’m feeling tired.

The traffic-aware cruise control is much like any other system, but auto-steer and automatic lane change of my car are cleverer than many systems. Auto-steer guides the car around curves in the road and stops it from accidentally veering out of its lane, and automatic lane change moves the car into a different lane for you when you select the appropriate indicator.

One fascinating thing that sets the auto-steer self-driving tech apart from other systems is that when you travel along the same stretch of road repeatedly, it appears to learn the contours of the road and guides the car around them better each time. This is what I've experienced while using the system on the winding contours of the A24 near Dorking in Surrey.

Another big revelation from living with my Model 3 is that it is a surprisingly practical removals and DIY vehicle.

While helping my daughter move home, we managed to load it up with around 20 holdalls of clothes and household items, and when we needed to replace an interior door we fitted it into the car, just, with the rear seats folded and the front pair moved forwards. Impressive stuff for a small saloon car.

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